Inlet-air-cooling door assembly for an electronics rack

ABSTRACT

A method is provided which includes providing a cooling apparatus for an electronics rack which includes a door assembly configured to couple to an air inlet side of the electronics rack. The door assembly includes: one or more airflow openings facilitating passage of airflow through the door assembly and into the electronics rack; one or more air-to-coolant heat exchangers disposed so that airflow through the airflow opening(s) passes across the heat exchanger(s), which is configured to extract heat from airflow passing thereacross; and one or more airflow redistributors disposed in a direction of airflow through the airflow opening(s) downstream of, and at least partially aligned to, the heat exchanger(s). The airflow redistributor(s) facilitates redistribution of the airflow passing across the air-to-liquid heat exchanger(s) to a desired airflow pattern at the air inlet side of the electronics rack, such as a uniform airflow distribution across the air inlet side of the rack.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. Ser. No. 13/674,217, filedNov. 12, 2012, and entitled “Inlet-Air-Cooling Door Assembly for anElectronics Rack”, and which is hereby incorporated herein by referencein its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The power dissipation of integrated circuit chips, and the modulescontaining the chips, continues to increase in order to achieveincreases in processor performance. This trend poses a cooling challengeat both module and system levels. Increased airflow rates are needed toeffectively cool high-powered modules, and to limit the temperature ofthe air that is exhausted into the computer center.

In many large server applications, processors, along with theirassociated electronics (e.g., memory, disk drives, power supplies,etc.), are packaged in removable drawer configurations stacked within arack or frame. In other cases, the electronics may be in fixed locationswithin the rack or frame. Typically, the components are cooled by airmoving in parallel airflow paths, usually front-to-back, impelled by oneor more air-moving devices (e.g., fans or blowers). In some cases, itmay be possible to handle increased power dissipation within a singledrawer by providing greater airflow, through the use of a more powerfulair-moving device, or by increasing the rotational speed (i.e., RPMs) ofan existing air-moving device.

The sensible heat load carried by the air exiting the rack is stressingthe capability of the room air-conditioning to effectively handle theload. This is especially true for large installations with “serverfarms”, or large banks of computer racks close together. In suchinstallations, liquid-cooling (e.g., water-cooling) is an attractivetechnology to manage the higher heat fluxes. The liquid facilitatesremoval of the heat dissipated by the components/modules in an efficientmanner. Typically, the heat is ultimately transferred from the liquid toan outside environment.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In one aspect, certain shortcomings of the prior art are overcome andadditional advantages are provided through a method which includes, forinstance: providing a cooling apparatus comprising a door assemblyconfigured to couple to an electronics rack and be disposed at an airinlet side of the electronics rack, wherein air moves through theelectronics rack from the air inlet side to an air outlet side thereof,and wherein the door assembly facilitates air-cooling of one or moreelectronic components of the electronics rack. The door assemblyincludes: at least one airflow opening facilitating passage of airflowthrough the door assembly and into the electronics rack; at least oneair-to-coolant heat exchanger disposed so that airflow through the atleast one airflow opening passes across the at least one air-to-coolantheat exchanger, the at least one air-to-coolant heat exchanger beingconfigured to extract heat from the airflow passing thereacross; and atleast one airflow redistributor disposed in an airflow directiondownstream of, and at least partially aligned to, the at least oneair-to-coolant heat exchanger. The at least one airflow redistributorfacilitates, at least partially, redistribution of the airflow passingacross the at least one air-to-coolant heat exchanger, before reachingthe air inlet side of the electronics rack.

Additional features and advantages are realized through the techniquesof the present invention. Other embodiments and aspects of the inventionare described in detail herein and are considered a part of the claimedinvention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

One or more aspects of the present invention are particularly pointedout and distinctly claimed as examples in the claims at the conclusionof the specification. The foregoing and other objects, features, andadvantages of the invention are apparent from the following detaileddescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1A depicts one embodiment of a conventional raised floor layout ofa computer installation comprising multiple electronics racks;

FIG. 1B is an elevational schematic of one embodiment of an electronicsrack comprising multiple electronic systems or subsystems to be cooled,in accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 2A is a top plan view of one embodiment of an electronics rack witha heat exchanger door mounted to an air outlet side thereof, and withextracted heat being rejected to facility coolant via a coolantdistribution unit, in accordance with one or more aspects of the presentinvention;

FIG. 2B is a side elevational view of the electronics rack and heatexchanger door of FIG. 2A, in accordance with one or more aspects of thepresent invention;

FIG. 3 depicts one embodiment of a data center layout comprisingmultiple coolant distribution units providing coolant to a plurality ofelectronics racks with air-cooling apparatuses mounted to at least oneof the air inlet sides or air outlet sides thereof, in accordance withone or more aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic of one embodiment of a coolant distribution unitwhich may be employed (in one embodiment) in association with anair-cooling apparatus, or a hybrid air-cooling and vapor-condensingapparatus, in accordance with one or more aspects of the presentinvention;

FIG. 5 depicts one embodiment of a data center implementing anothercooling approach, wherein an electronics rack is provided with aninlet-air-cooling door assembly disposed at the air inlet side thereof,in accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 6A is a top plan view of one embodiment of an inlet-air-coolingdoor assembly for mounting to an electronics rack and being disposed atthe air inlet side thereof, in accordance with one or more aspects ofthe present invention;

FIG. 6B is a front elevational view of one embodiment of theinlet-air-cooling door assembly of FIG. 6A, in accordance with one ormore aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 6C is a cross-sectional elevation view of the inlet-air-coolingdoor assembly of FIG. 6B, taken along line 6C-6C thereof, in accordancewith one or more aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 7A is an elevational view of one embodiment of an airflowredistributor for an inlet-air-cooling door assembly, in accordance withone or more aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 7B is a partial enlargement of the airflow redistributor of FIG.7A, showing multiple regions of airflow openings of different diameters,in accordance with one or more aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 7C is a graph of airflow opening diameter versus opening positionfrom center, in both an x direction and a y direction for one embodimentof the airflow redistributor of FIGS. 7A & 7B, in accordance with one ormore aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 8A depicts an alternate embodiment of an airflow redistributor foran inlet-air-cooling door assembly, in accordance with one or moreaspects of the present invention;

FIG. 8B is a partial enlargement of the airflow redistributor of FIG.8A, illustrating varying airflow opening diameters from a center to aperiphery of the airflow redistributor, in accordance with one or moreaspects of the present invention;

FIG. 8C is a graph of airflow opening diameter versus opening positionfrom center, in both an x direction and a y direction, for oneembodiment of the airflow redistributor of FIGS. 8A & 8B, andillustrating a different rate of change of the airflow opening diametersin the different directions, in accordance with one or more aspects ofthe present invention;

FIG. 9A is a top plan view of an alternate embodiment of aninlet-air-cooling door assembly for mounting to an electronics rack andbeing disposed at the air inlet side thereof, in accordance with one ormore aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 9B is a front elevational view of one embodiment of theinlet-air-cooling door assembly of FIG. 9A, in accordance with one ormore aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 9C is a cross-sectional elevation view of the inlet-air-coolingdoor assembly of FIG. 9B, taken along line 9C-9C thereof, in accordancewith one or more aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 9D is a back elevational view of the inlet-air-cooling doorassembly of FIGS. 9A-9C, in accordance with one or more aspects of thepresent invention;

FIG. 10A is a top plan view of another embodiment of aninlet-air-cooling door assembly for mounting to an electronics rack andbeing disposed at the air inlet side thereof, in accordance with one ormore aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 10B is a front elevational depiction of one embodiment of theinlet-air-cooling door assembly of FIG. 10A, in accordance with one ormore aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 10C is a cross-sectional elevation view of the inlet-air-coolingdoor assembly of FIG. 10B, taken along line 10C-10C thereof, inaccordance with one or more aspects of the present invention;

FIG. 10D is a partially enlarged, cross-sectional elevation view of theinlet-air-cooling door assembly of FIGS. 10A-10C, and illustrating oneembodiment of the airflow redistributors thereof, in accordance with oneor more aspects of the present invention; and

FIG. 10E is a back elevational view of the partially enlarged doorassembly depiction of FIG. 10D, and illustrating further an airflowredistributor thereof, in accordance with one or more aspects of thepresent invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As used herein, the terms “electronics rack”, “rack unit”, and “rack”are used interchangeably, and unless otherwise specified, include anyhousing, frame, support structure, compartment, blade server system,etc., having one or more heat generating components of a computer systemor electronic system, and may be, for example, a stand-alone computerprocessor having high, mid or low end processing capability. In oneembodiment, an electronics rack may comprise a portion of an electronicsystem, a single electronic system, or multiple electronic systems, forexample, in one or more sub-housings, blades, books, drawers, nodes,compartments, etc., having one or more heat-generating electroniccomponents disposed therein. An electronic system within an electronicsrack may be movable or fixed relative to the electronics rack, with therack-mounted electronic drawers of a multi-drawer rack unit and bladesof a blade center system being two examples of systems (or subsystems)of an electronics rack to be cooled. By way of further example, anelectronics rack may be, or may comprise, an information technology (IT)rack or frame.

Further, as used herein, “air-to-coolant heat exchanger” means any heatexchange mechanism or section characterized as described herein throughwhich coolant can circulate; and includes, one or more discreteair-to-coolant heat exchangers or heat exchange sections coupled eitherin series or in parallel. An air-to-coolant heat exchanger may comprise,for example, one or more coolant flow paths, formed of thermallyconductive tubings (such as copper or other tubing) in thermal ormechanical contact with a plurality of air-cooled cooling fins (such asaluminum or other fins). Unless otherwise specified, size, configurationand construction of the air-to-coolant heat exchanger can vary withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention disclosed herein. A“liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger” may comprise, for example, two or morecoolant flow paths, formed of thermally conductive tubings (such ascopper or other tubing) in thermal or mechanical contact with each otherto facilitate conduction of heat therebetween. Size, configuration andconstruction of the liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger can vary withoutdeparting from the scope of the invention disclosed herein. Further, asused herein, “data center” refers to a computer installation containingone or more electronics racks, and as a specific example, a data centermay include one or more rows of rack-mounted computing units, such asserver units.

One example of facility coolant and system coolant is water. However,the concepts disclosed herein are readily adapted to use with othertypes of coolant on the facility side and/or on the system side. Forexample, and unless otherwise specified, one or more of the coolants maycomprise a water-glycol mixture, a brine, a fluorocarbon liquid, aliquid metal, or other similar coolant, or a refrigerant, while stillmaintaining the advantages and unique features of the present invention.Further, the term “coolant” refers to any liquid or gas, or combinationthereof, used to remove heat, in accordance with the structures andconcepts disclosed herein.

Reference is made below to the drawings (which are not drawn to scale tofacilitate an understanding of the invention), wherein the samereference numbers used throughout different figures designate the sameor similar components.

As shown in FIG. 1A, in a raised floor layout of an air cooled computerinstallation or data center 100, multiple electronics racks 110 may bedisposed in one or more rows. A computer installation such as depictedin FIG. 1A may house several hundred, or even several thousandprocessors. In the arrangement of FIG. 1A, chilled air enters thecomputer room via floor vents from a supply air plenum 145 definedbetween a raised floor 140 and a base or sub-floor 165 of the room.Cooled air is taken in through louvered covers at the front, or airinlet sides 120, of the electronics racks and expelled through the back,or air outlet sides 130, of the electronics racks. Each electronics rack110 may have one or more air-moving devices (e.g., fans or blowers) toprovide forced inlet-to-outlet airflow to cool the electronic componentswithin the rack. Supply air plenum 145 provides conditioned and cooledair to the air-inlet sides of the electronics racks via perforated floortiles 160 disposed (in one embodiment) in a “cold” air aisle of the datacenter. The conditioned and cooled air is supplied to plenum 145 by oneor more air-conditioning units 150, which may also be disposed withindata center 100. Room air is taken into each air-conditioning unit 150near an upper portion thereof. In the depicted embodiment, this room aircomprises in part exhausted air from the “hot” air aisles of the datacenter defined by opposing air outlet sides 130 of the electronics racks110.

FIG. 1B is an elevational representation of one embodiment of anelectronics rack 110. In the embodiment shown, electronics rack 110includes a plurality of electronic subsystems 101, which (in theembodiment illustrated) are air-cooled by cool air 102 ingressing vialouvered air inlet door 120, and exhausting out louvered air outlet door130 as hot air 103. Electronics rack 110 also includes (in oneembodiment) at least one bulk power assembly 104. One or more electronicsubsystems 101 include, in one example, one or more processors,associated memory, input/output adapters and disk storage devices. Alsoillustrated in FIG. 1B is an I/O and disk expansion subsystem 105, whichincludes, in one detailed example, PCIe card slots and disk drivers forone or more electronic subsystems of the electronics rack. Note that I/Oand disk expansion subsystem 105 could be disposed anywhere withinelectronics rack 110, with the positioning shown in FIG. 1B beingprovided as one example only. For example, the I/O and disk expansionsubsystem 105 could alternatively be disposed in the middle of theelectronics rack, if desired.

In one rack example, a three-phase AC source feeds power via an AC powercord 106 to bulk power assembly 104, which transforms the supplied ACpower to an appropriate DC power level for output via distributioncables 107 to the plurality of electronics subsystems 101. AC power cord106 supplies, in one example, three phase electrical power. The numberand type of electronic subsystems installed in the electronics rack arevariable and depend on customer requirements for a particular system.

Due to ever increasing airflow requirements through electronics racks,and the limits of air distribution within the typical computer roominstallation, recirculation problems within the room may occur.Recirculation can occur because the conditioned air supplied through thefloor tiles may only be a fraction of the airflow rate forced throughthe electronics racks by the air moving devices disposed within theracks. This can be due, for example, to limitations on the tile sizes(or diffuser flow rates). The remaining fraction of the supply of inletside air may be made up by ambient room air through recirculation, forexample, from the air outlet side of the rack unit to the air inletside. This recirculating flow is often very complex in nature, and canlead to significantly higher rack inlet temperatures than might beexpected.

Recirculation of hot exhaust air from the hot aisle of the computer roominstallation to the cold aisle can be detrimental to the performance andreliability of the computer system(s) or electronic system(s) within therack(s). Data center equipment is typically designed to operate withrack air inlet temperatures in the 15-35° C. range. For a raised floorlayout such as depicted in FIG. 1A, however, temperatures can range from15-20° C. at the lower portion of the rack, close to the cool air floorvents, to as much as 32-42° C. at the upper portion of the electronicsrack, where hot air can form a self-sustaining recirculation loop. Sincethe allowable rack heat load is limited by the rack inlet airtemperature at the “hot” part, this temperature distribution correlatesto an inefficient utilization of available air conditioning capability.Computer installation equipment almost always represents a high capitalinvestment to the customer. Thus, it is of significant importance, froma product reliability and performance view point, and from a customersatisfaction and business perspective, to achieve a substantiallyuniform temperature across the air inlet side of the rack unit.

Referring collectively to FIGS. 2A & 2B, one embodiment of a cooledelectronic system, generally denoted 200, is shown, which includes anelectronics rack 210 having an inlet door 220 and an outlet door 230.The inlet and outlet doors have openings to allow for the ingress andegress of air 201, respectively, through the air inlet side and airoutlet side of electronics rack 210. The system further includes atleast one air-moving device 212 for moving air across at least oneelectronic system or component 214 disposed within the electronics rack.Located within outlet door 230 is an air-to-coolant heat exchanger 240across which the inlet-to-outlet airflow 201 through the electronicsrack passes. As shown in FIG. 2A, a system coolant loop 245 couplesair-to-coolant heat exchanger 240 to a coolant distribution unit 250.Coolant distribution unit 250 is used to buffer the air-to-coolant heatexchanger from facility coolant in a facility coolant loop 260.Air-to-coolant heat exchanger 240 removes heat from the exhaustedinlet-to-outlet airflow 201 through the electronics rack via circulatingsystem coolant, for rejection in coolant distribution unit 250 tofacility coolant in facility coolant loop 260, for example, via acoolant-to-liquid heat exchanger 252 disposed therein. By way ofexample, such a system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,385,810 B2,issued Jun. 10, 2008, and entitled “Apparatus and Method forFacilitating Cooling of an Electronics Rack Employing a Heat ExchangeAssembly Mounted to an Outlet Door Cover of the Electronics Rack”. Thiscooling apparatus can advantageously reduce heat load on the existingair-conditioning unit(s) within the data center, and facilitates coolingof electronics racks by cooling (in one embodiment) the air egressingfrom the electronics rack and thus cooling any air recirculating to theair inlet side thereof.

In one implementation, inlet and outlet coolant manifolds of thedoor-mounted, air-to-coolant heat exchanger are also mounted within theheat exchanger door and are coupled to coolant supply and return linesdisposed, for example, beneath a raised floor. Alternatively, overheadsystem coolant supply and return lines might be provided for theair-to-coolant heat exchangers. In such an embodiment, system coolantwould enter and exit the respective coolant inlet and outlet manifoldsfrom the top of the rack door, for example, using flexible coolantsupply and return hoses, which may be at least partially looped andsized to facilitate opening and closing of the heat exchanger door.Additionally, structures may be provided at the ends of the hoses torelive stress at the hose ends, which would result from opening orclosing of the door.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of one embodiment of a data center, generallydenoted 300, with cooled electronic systems comprising door-mounted,air-to-coolant heat exchangers, such as disclosed herein. Data center300 includes a plurality of rows of electronics racks 210, each of whichincludes (by way of example only) an inlet door 220 at the air inletside, and a hinged heat exchanger door 230 at the air outlet side, suchas described above in connection with the embodiment of FIGS. 2A & 2B.In this embodiment, each heat exchanger door 230 comprises anair-to-coolant heat exchanger and system coolant inlet and outletmanifolds. Multiple coolant conditioning units 250, which function inpart as coolant pumping units, are disposed within the data center, forinstance, along with one or more air-conditioning units, such as shownin FIG. 1A. By way of example only, each pumping unit may form a systemcoolant distribution subsystem with one row of a plurality ofelectronics racks. Each pumping unit includes a coolant-to-liquid heatexchanger where heat is transferred from a system coolant loop to afacility coolant loop. In operation, chilled facility coolant, such aswater, is received via a facility coolant supply line 301, and returnedvia a facility coolant return line 302. System coolant, such as water,is provided via a system coolant supply manifold 310 extending below therespective row of electronics racks, and is returned via a systemcoolant return manifold 320 also extending below the respective row ofelectronics racks. In one embodiment, the system coolant supply andreturn manifolds 310, 320 are hard-plumbed within the data center, forexample, within an air supply plenum of the data center, and may bepreconfigured to align under and include branch lines (or hoses)extending towards the electronics racks in a respective row of racks.

FIG. 4 depicts one embodiment of a coolant distribution unit 250 for(for example) a data center such as depicted in FIG. 3. Liquid-to-liquidheat exchanger 252 cools system coolant passing through the systemcoolant loop (comprising system coolant supply header 310 and systemcoolant return header 320). In one embodiment, the system coolant hasundergone heating (and possibly partial vaporization) within therespective air-to-liquid heat exchangers disposed within the outletdoors of the electronics racks. The facility coolant loop coupled toliquid-to-liquid heat exchanger 252 comprises facility coolant supplyline 301 and facility coolant return line 302, which in one embodiment,provide chilled facility water to the liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger. Acontrol valve 401 may be employed in facility coolant supply line 301 tocontrol facility coolant flow rate through the liquid-to-liquid heatexchanger 252. After the system coolant cools within liquid-to-liquidheat exchanger 252, the coolant is collected in a reservoir 410 forpumping via a redundant pump assembly 420 back to the respective row ofelectronics racks via system coolant supply header 310.

The American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air-ConditioningEngineers (ASHRAE) published ASHRAE 2011 Environmental Standards forelectronics racks (such as IT equipment), wherein two new environmentalenvelopes were created to assist in improving data center efficiency,and reducing energy consumption in comparison with maintaining thenarrower environmental envelopes previously specified. The two newstandards are referred to as the A3 Class and A4 Class, which allow airtemperatures entering the IT equipment to be as high as 40° C., and 45°C., respectively. Currently, most electronics rack (or IT equipment) areinstead designed for the A2 environment, where the air inlet temperaturehas a maximum 35° C., as discussed above.

To take advantage of the new ASHRAE standards, one solution is toredesign the equipment so that the higher inlet air temperatures couldbe tolerated. This could be accomplished by providing more heat exchangesurfaces within the rack, increasing airflow through the rack by rampingup the rack's air-moving devices, or even adding liquid-cooling to theelectronics rack. However, such solutions are not always practical, orwould require additional time to develop, and would delay the use of therack in a higher temperature A3 or A4 environment. Additionally, somecomponents within the electronics rack (such as high-density, hard diskdrives) often cannot have extended surfaces and cannot be liquid-cooled.Certain electronic components may also show an increase in failure ratesas the air temperature rises, which is often unacceptable. Tape-basedstorage racks also suffer at higher temperatures, at least in part, dueto the increased aging and stress on the polymer tape media.

An alternate solution to these issues, particularly for electronicsracks comprising high-performance, graphics-processing units (GPUs),hard disk drives (HDD) or tape-based computer storage (i.e., tapemedia), is to reduce the air inlet temperature at the air inlet side ofthe electronics rack. This might be achieved by adding a heat exchangerdoor, such as described above, to the air inlet side of the rack topre-cool the air from, for instance, 40° C. to 35° C., or lower.However, a rear door heat exchanger such as described above may beexpensive, and heavy, and could be designed to extract a large heatload, which makes it unsuitable for wide adoption, especially in caseswhere only a small temperature reduction in the air inlet temperature isrequired. For these reasons, described below is a new air-inlet-coolingdoor assembly which utilizes reduced materials compared with the largerrear door heat exchanger approach, is lighter, and more cost effective.Additionally, the door assembly designs disclosed herein facilitateredistributing cooled air from smaller and/or segmented airflow openingsor heat exchangers to, for instance, desired locations at the air inletside (e.g., front face) of the electronics rack.

Generally stated, disclosed herein is a cooling apparatus, comprising adoor assembly that is configured to couple to an electronics rack at, oradjacent to, an air inlet side of an electronics rack. The door assemblyfacilitates cooling of airflow into the electronics rack, and thereby,cooling of one or more air-cooled electronic components of theelectronics rack. The door assembly comprises, for instance: one or moreairflow openings facilitating passage of airflow through the doorassembly and into the electronics rack; one or more air-to-coolant heatexchangers disposed so that airflow through the airflow opening(s)passes across the air-to-coolant heat exchanger(s), the air-to-coolantheat exchanger(s) being configured to attract heat from the airflowpassing thereacross; and one or more airflow redistributors disposed inan airflow direction downstream of, and at least partially aligned to,the air-to-coolant heat exchanger(s). The airflow redistributor(s)facilitates, at least partially, redistributing of the airflow passingacross the air-to-liquid heat exchanger(s), before reaching the airinlet side of the electronics rack. In this manner, the airflowredistributor(s) facilitates providing a desired airflow pattern at theair inlet side of the electronics rack, notwithstanding that the airflowopening(s), as well as the air-to-coolant heat exchanger(s), are smallerin transverse cross-sectional area to the direction of airflow than thetransverse cross-sectional area to the direction of airflow of the airinlet side of the electronics rack. In one implementation, the airflowredistributor(s) is configured to facilitate providing a uniform airflowdistribution across the air inlet side of the electronics rack.

As described herein, in one aspect, one or more smaller (e.g., segmentedor narrowed) airflow openings and air-to-liquid heat exchangers aredisposed in association with one or more airflow redistributors (such asgratings or vanes) to help redistribute airflow passing across theair-to-coolant heat exchangers from the smaller airflow opening(s) ofthe door assembly to a desired airflow pattern at the air inlet side(e.g., front face) of the electronics rack. The use of one or moresmaller airflow openings and associated air-to-liquid heat exchangers(or heat exchanger sections) reduces the material, and thus the weightand cost of the door assembly, making it more affordable, and morelikely to be accepted in the marketplace. Additionally, providing one ormore smaller airflow openings into the door assembly increases theairflow velocities across the associated heat exchanger(s). The doorassemblies disclosed herein are suitable for use with lower heat loadextraction, such as in pre-cooling of air-entering an electronics rack,where other conventional solutions would be more expensive, and notalways appropriate. The solution disclosed below is advantageous forelectronic subsystems where higher inlet temperatures are not practical,or possible (e.g., due to limitations in the media), or there is a needto maintain higher performance or higher reliability.

FIG. 5 depicts one embodiment of a data center, generally denoted 500,comprising one or more electronics racks 110, and one or more coolantdistribution units 250 disposed, in the illustrated example, on a raisedfloor 140 of the data center. In actual implementation, the data center500 may comprise a plurality of electronics racks 110, as well asmultiple coolant-distribution units, and one or more computer roomair-conditioning units (not shown). In this implementation, a doorassembly 510 is provided disposed at the air inlet side of electronicsrack 110 to facilitate cooling of ingressing airflow 501 to reducetemperature of the airflow 502 entering electronics rack 110, andthereby cooling of the air-cooled electronic components within the rack.Heated exhaust air 503 exits the air outlet side of the electronics rack110, as described above. Cooled air 501 may be provided, in oneembodiment, through one or more perforated floor tiles 160, withconditioned and cooled air being supplied to plenum 145 by one or moreair-conditioning units (not shown).

As explained above, the coolant distribution unit 250 comprises, forinstance, a pumping unit which includes a coolant-to-liquid heatexchanger, where heat is transferred from a system coolant loop to afacility coolant loop. For example, in operation, chilled facilitycoolant, such as water, is received via facility coolant supply line301, and returned via facility coolant return line 302. System coolant,such as water, is provided via a system coolant supply manifold 310, andis returned via a system coolant return manifold 320. In one embodiment,the system coolant supply and return manifolds 310, 320 may behard-plumbed within the data center, for instance, within air supplyplenum 145, such as illustrated in FIG. 5, and may be pre-configured toalign under and include branch lines (or hoses) extending towards theelectronics racks in a respective row of racks. One or more flow controlvalves 520 may be associated with, for instance, system coolant returnmanifold 320, to facilitate control of system coolant flow through theassociated cooling door assemblies 510. As noted, door assembly 510 isconfigured to be disposed at the air inlet side of the electronics rack,and may be an inlet-air-cooling door assembly configured to providecooled air that meets a specified ASHRAE standard, for instance, an airtemperature of 35° C. (i.e, the A2 ASHRAE standard), or lower. Heatextracted by the one or more air-to-coolant heat exchangers of the doorassembly is rejected to (in this embodiment) the system coolant, whichis transferred via the one or more coolant distribution units to thefacility coolant, and subsequently dissipated via chillers, and coolingtowers, or via dry-coolers or other liquid-side economizers.

FIGS. 6A-6C depict one embodiment of a door assembly 510. Referringcollectively to FIGS. 6A-6C, door assembly 510 includes, in thisembodiment, an outer shell 600 which includes a trapezoidal-shaped shellportion 601 with an apex 602 at the front face of the outer shell.Within apex 602, an airflow opening 610 is provided, along with anair-to-coolant heat exchanger 620. As illustrated, air-to-coolant heatexchanger 620 is disposed within the airflow opening 610 so that airflowthrough airflow opening 610 passes across the air-to-coolant heatexchanger 620. As illustrated in FIGS. 6A-6C, airflow opening 610 andassociated air-to-liquid heat exchanger 620 have a smaller transversecross-sectional area (SA₁) to the direction of airflow than a transversecross-sectional area (SA₂) to the direction of airflow of the air inletside of the electronics rack, which is assumed to be the same size asthe back side of door assembly 510. Note that, in one embodiment, theouter shell 600 is a solid surface shell so that airflow 501 enteringairflow opening 610 necessarily passes across the air-to-liquid heatexchanger 620, and egresses as cooled air 502 at the back side of thedoor assembly, for ingress into the air inlet side of the electronicsrack (not shown) without escaping.

In the depicted embodiment, air-to-coolant heat exchanger 620 receivescoolant via a coolant supply manifold 621 and a coolant return manifold622, which are disposed horizontally within the door assembly. Systemcoolant flows into and from the supply and return manifolds 621, 622via, for instance, flexible hoses 625, 626, which are coupled via quickconnects 627, 628 to the data center's system coolant supply manifoldand system coolant return manifold (see FIG. 5). The air-to-coolant heatexchanger 620 includes, in this embodiment, a plurality ofcoolant-carrying tubes 623 coupled at respective ends in fluidcommunication with coolant supply manifold 621, and coolant returnmanifold 622. In addition, a plurality of thermally conductive fins 624are provided in thermal or mechanical contact with the plurality ofcoolant-carrying tubes 623. A bleed port 629 may also be provided, forinstance, in the system coolant manifolds 621, 622 to facilitatebleeding off air from the manifolds or heat exchanger.

As illustrated in FIGS. 6A & 6C, the door assembly also includes anairflow redistributor 630, which comprises, in this embodiment, aplurality of airflow openings 631. The airflow distributor may befabricated, for instance, as a plate, screen, etc., sized and configuredto redistribute airflow 501 passing through airflow opening 610 andacross air-to-coolant heat exchanger 620 to, for instance, a desiredairflow pattern 502 egressing from door assembly 510, and into the airinlet side of the electronics rack (see FIG. 5). In the depictedembodiment, the airflow redistributor 630 is positioned, sized andconfigured, along with the plurality of airflow openings 631, tofacilitate a substantially uniform distribution of airflow across theheight and width of the door assembly, and therefore, across the heightand width of the air inlet side of the electronics rack. As illustratedin FIG. 6C, a certain portion of the airflow 635 gets redirected (uponencountering the airflow redistributor) around the airflow redistributor630, and thus, the airflow redistributor facilitates (in thisembodiment) outwardly expanding the airflow from the smaller airflowopening 610 of the door assembly 510 to the larger air inlet side of theelectronics rack. Note that in the embodiment depicted, a plurality ofmounting brackets 640 may be provided to hold airflow redistributor 630aligned in position downstream of airflow opening 610 and air-to-coolantheat exchanger 620.

Note that in the door assembly embodiment of FIGS. 6A-6C, airflowopening 610, and air-to-coolant heat exchanger 620 are smaller than theback side of the door, which is assumed to approximately match theheight and width of the air inlet side of the electronics rack to whichthe door assembly mounts. The smaller opening allows, in this design,for system coolant supply and return manifolds 621, 622 to be mountedhorizontally within the door, as well as for the use of a smaller heatexchanger, thereby reducing the weight and cost of the door assembly. Tohelp redistribute the incoming airflow, for example, uniformly acrossthe front face of the electronics rack, the airflow redistributor ismounted behind and downstream of the heat exchanger, for instance, a setdistance in front of the air inlet side of the electronics rack, whenthe door assembly is mounted to the rack. This airflow redistributor 630acts, in part, as a flow impedance structure, and helps redistribute theairflow into a desired pattern at the air inlet side of the rack. Thesize of the airflow redistributor, the distance of the redistributor tothe air inlet side of the rack, and the percentage of openings withinthe redistributor, may all be numerically determined through, forinstance, airflow simulations, and might depend, at least in part, onthe specific electronic components, subsystems, and air-moving deviceswithin the rack.

FIGS. 7A-7C depict in greater detail one embodiment of an airflowredistributor 630, in accordance with one or more aspects of the presentinvention. In this embodiment, airflow redistributor 630 comprises aplurality of different regions 700, 710, 720, each of which comprises aplurality of openings 701, 711, 721. As illustrated in FIG. 7B, in oneimplementation, the plurality of openings 701, 711, 721 aredifferently-sized, for instance, having different diameters, between thedifferent regions 700, 710, 720. In addition, the size of the airflowopenings generally increases from the center region 700 outwards to theouter, peripheral region 720. In this manner, airflow crossing theair-to-coolant heat exchanger 620 (FIGS. 6A-6C) is redistributed, atleast partially, outwards, and even around, the airflow redistributor,as illustrated in FIG. 6C and discussed above. The smaller airflowopenings 701 (or pores) in central region 700 define a higher airflowresistance region of the airflow redistributor. Due (in this embodiment)to the larger vertical height of the door assembly than width, theairflow redirector 630 is larger vertically, that is, in they direction,than horizontally (in the x direction). As such, the FIG. 7C plot ofairflow opening diameter versus location within the airflow distributor,shows that the airflow openings remaining smaller for a longer distancefrom center in the vertical direction, than in the horizontal direction,which is also illustrated in the elevational view of FIG. 7A. Region 710presents a medium airflow resistance region, and airflow region 720defines a lower airflow resistance region. Thus, the airflowredistributor, in this example, is a grating or plate withdifferent-sized openings (and variable percentage openings) across thedifferent regions. Note that three airflow regions are illustrated inFIGS. 7A-7C by way of example only. Redistribution of airflow can beaccomplished using any number of airflow redistribution regions. Also,note that in one embodiment, a goal of the airflow redistributor is toredistribute airflow exiting from across the air-to-coolant heatexchanger into a desired airflow pattern for ingress to the air inletside of the rack. As such, any airflow redistributor which has, forinstance, varying airflow resistance across the face of theredistributor, can be employed to accomplish this function.

FIGS. 8A-8C depict an alternate airflow redistributor 630′configuration, wherein airflow openings 810 vary more uniformly in sizefrom a center 800 outwards to a first peripheral edge 801 and a secondperipheral edge 802. The smallest airflow openings (or pores) representa higher flow resistance, closer to the center of the airflowredistributor, and the larger airflow openings (or pores) near theperipheries 801, 802 present a lower airflow resistance, with theairflow resistance changing, for example, approximately linearly, fromthe center to the outer periphery, in the x direction and in theydirection. This is illustrated by the graph of FIG. 8C. In FIG. 8C,airflow opening diameter is shown to increase more rapidly in the xdirection, than in the y direction, which is due to the differentlengths in the x direction and the y direction of the airflowredistributor, as depicted in FIG. 8A.

Note that the particular airflow redistributors of FIGS. 7A-8C arepresented by way of example only. Other airflow redistributors may also(or alternatively) be employed. A goal of the airflow redistributor, inthe embodiments depicted, is to present a varying airflow resistance soas to shape, or redistribute the airflow within the door assembly to adesired airflow pattern exiting the door assembly. This desired airflowpattern may comprise, for instance, a uniform airflow pattern across theface of the air inlet side of the rack; that is, exiting across thewidth and height of the rack. Other patterns may alternatively beobtained, however. For example, in one or more implementations, greaterairflow may be desired in an upper or lower region of the electronicsrack compared with the other region, depending in part on the locationwithin the rack of the electronics components to be cooled.

FIGS. 9A-9D depict an alternate door assembly embodiment, generallydenoted 900, in accordance with one or more aspects of the presentinvention. Referring collectively to FIGS. 9A-9D, this embodiment issimilar to that described above in connection with FIGS. 6A-6C, however,multiple airflow openings 910 are provided within the door assembly 900,for instance, at apex 902 of a trapezoidal-shaped outer shell portion901 of the door assembly 900. The multiple openings 910 have associatedtherewith multiple air-to-coolant heat exchangers (or heat exchangesections) 920, as well as multiple airflow redistributors 930. Theair-to-coolant heat exchangers 920 are disposed so that airflow throughthe respective airflow openings 910 passes across the associated heatexchanger 920, and the heat exchanger is configured to extract heat fromthe airflow passing thereacross. In this embodiment, door assembly 900includes a system coolant supply manifold 921 and a system coolantreturn manifold 922 disposed vertically within the door assembly, asillustrated in FIG. 9B. These manifolds provide system coolant flowthrough coolant-carrying tubes 923 of the heat exchangers 920. The heatexchangers 920 further include a plurality of thermally conductive fins924 that are thermally or mechanically coupled to the respectivecoolant-carrying tubes 923 to facilitate transfer of heat from theairflow passing through the respective airflow opening 910 to thecoolant (e.g., system coolant) flowing through the air-to-liquid heatexchangers 920. Respective flexible hoses 925, 926 facilitate couplingthe system coolant supply manifold 921, and system coolant returnmanifold 922 (via, for instance, quick connects 927, 928) with the datacenter system coolant supply manifold and system coolant returnmanifold, discussed above. Note that the flexible hoses 925, 926 may besized and of sufficient flexibility to allow for the door assembly to berotated open and away from the electronics rack (not shown), forinstance, if the door assembly is hinged-mounted to the electronicsrack.

As with the embodiments discussed above in connection with FIGS. 6A-8C,airflow redistributors 930 may comprise a plurality of airflow openings931, which may be of the same or varying size, depending upon theimplementation. The airflow redistributors 930 of door assembly 900align, at least partially, with the respective airflow openings 910, andair-to-coolant heat exchangers 920 disposed within or aligned to theopenings 910. As illustrated, in operation, a portion 502′ of the cooledairflow passing across the respective air-to-coolant heat exchangers 920flows around the downstream airflow redistributors 930, and thus isredistributed (for example, is moved outwardly from a projection of therespective airflow opening) before passing from the door assembly to theelectronics rack. This redistribution may be provided, in oneembodiment, to facilitate a more uniform airflow distribution across theair inlet side of the rack, notwithstanding the use of smaller airflowopenings and smaller heat exchangers within the door assembly. Ducting950 may also be provided to facilitate the redirection or redistributionof airflow, as well as to prevent any recirculation of airflow withinthe door assembly. In one embodiment, ducting 950 may comprise panels,such as plastic panels. The airflow redistributors 930 depicted in FIGS.9A-9D may comprise, for instance, any plate-type or screen-typeredistributor, for instance, with varying flow impedances, as discussedabove in connection with FIGS. 7A-8C.

Note that using multiple smaller airflow openings 910 and smaller heatexchangers 920 helps to reduce the material within, and cost of doorassembly 900. The door assembly of FIGS. 9A-9D does, however, result incomparatively larger vertical manifolds 921, 922 as compared with theshorter, horizontal manifolds 621, 622 employed in the embodiment ofFIGS. 6A-6C. As discussed above, the sizing and configuration of theairflow redistributors may be based, for instance, on numerical airflowredistribution simulations, which can be performed by one of ordinaryskill in the art to achieve a desired pattern, such as a uniformpattern, at the back side of the door assembly and/or at the air inletside of the electronics rack. Note also that, in the embodimentdepicted, a plurality of mounting brackets 940 may be provided to holdairflow redistributor 930, aligned and positioned downstream of airflowopening 910 and air-to-coolant heat exchanger 920.

FIGS. 10A-10E depict a further embodiment of a door assembly, generallydenoted 1000, in accordance with one or more aspects of the presentinvention. Referring collectively to FIGS. 10A-10E, this door assemblyis similar to that described above in connection with FIGS. 9A-9D, withthe exception being that the airflow redistributors 930 of theembodiment of FIGS. 9A-9D are replaced by respective airflowredistributors that comprise sets of nested airflow guiding vanes 1030.Each set of nested airflow guiding vanes 1030 may be coupled to arespective airflow opening 910 of the door assembly, so thatsubstantially all airflow 501 ingressing through the airflow openings910 passes through the sets of nested airflow guiding vanes.

FIGS. 10D & 10E illustrate an enlarged view of one embodiment of a setof nested airflow guiding vanes 1030. In this embodiment, a plurality ofairflow guiding vanes 1032 are provided, between which airflow openings1031 are defined. These airflow openings 1031 vary in size, from asmallest opening in the center of the set of nested airflow guidingvanes 1030, to a largest opening at the outer region of the airflowredistributor.

Note that in the embodiment of FIGS. 10A-10E, airflow through thedifferent ducts defined by the airflow guiding vanes 1030 may bedifferent, but the airflow-per-unit area may be the same, for instance,where it is desired that a uniform airflow be presented to the air inletside of the electronics rack. In this embodiment, the sets of nestedairflow guiding vanes 1030 would extend horizontally and verticallyacross the back of the door assembly, so as to match, in one embodiment,the width and height of the air inlet side of the electronics rack.Thus, substantially all airflow through the smaller airflow openings 910of the door assembly 1000 would be redistributed to the larger openingat the air inlet side of the rack. One or more ribs 1035 may be providedwithin each set of nested airflow guiding vanes 1030 to connect or holdthe pyramid-shaped airflow guiding vanes together in a single structure.The gradually-outwardly-increasing openings 1031 facilitateredistributing, in one embodiment, airflow from the smaller airflowopenings 910 substantially equally outward. The exact dimensions of theairflow vanes may be determined, as in the above embodiments, fromnumerical simulation, which may be performed by one of ordinary skill inthe art.

Note that in the embodiments of the door assembly discussed herein, theheat exchanger fins may be made of a thermally conductive material, suchas aluminum, while the coolant-carrying tubes (or coils) may be made of,for instance, copper. The system coolant manifolds may also be made ofcopper, with the tubes then brazed at the intersections to provideleak-free connections. Connections to the system coolant loop, in thecase of a coolant distribution unit, or to the facility coolant loop (iffacility coolant is flowing directly through the heat exchangers) may bemade via standard quick connects. To reduce weight and cost, themanifolds could alternatively be made of polymer, such as PVC, with thejoints to the copper tubes being soldered or epoxyed. Alternatively,quick connects could also be used to increase the reparability of theoverall assembly. The airflow redistributors, whether plates, grills,screens, vanes, etc., may be made with, for instance, sheet metal,aluminum, or plastic, and chosen based on the most cost effectivesolution for a particular implementation.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Asused herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprise” (andany form of comprise, such as “comprises” and “comprising”), “have” (andany form of have, such as “has” and “having”), “include” (and any formof include, such as “includes” and “including”), and “contain” (and anyform contain, such as “contains” and “containing”) are open-endedlinking verbs. As a result, a method or device that “comprises”, “has”,“includes” or “contains” one or more steps or elements possesses thoseone or more steps or elements, but is not limited to possessing onlythose one or more steps or elements. Likewise, a step of a method or anelement of a device that “comprises”, “has”, “includes” or “contains”one or more features possesses those one or more features, but is notlimited to possessing only those one or more features. Furthermore, adevice or structure that is configured in a certain way is configured inat least that way, but may also be configured in ways that are notlisted.

The corresponding structures, materials, acts, and equivalents of allmeans or step plus function elements in the claims below, if any, areintended to include any structure, material, or act for performing thefunction in combination with other claimed elements as specificallyclaimed. The description of the present invention has been presented forpurposes of illustration and description, but is not intended to beexhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.The embodiment was chosen and described in order to explain theprinciples of the invention and the practical application, and to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the invention throughvarious embodiments and the various modifications thereto which aredependent on the particular use contemplated.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: providing a coolingapparatus comprising a door assembly sized to couple to an electronicsrack at an air inlet side of the electronics rack, wherein air movesthrough the electronics rack from the air inlet side to an air outletside thereof, the door assembly facilitating air-cooling of one or moreelectronic components of the electronics rack, and wherein the doorassembly comprises: at least one airflow opening facilitating passage ofairflow through the door assembly and into the electronics rack with thedoor assembly coupled to the electronics rack; at least oneair-to-coolant heat exchanger disposed so that the airflow through theat least one airflow opening passes across the at least oneair-to-coolant heat exchanger, the at least one air-to-coolant heatexchanger extracting heat from the airflow passing thereacross; and atleast one airflow redistributor, the at least one airflow redistributorbeing part of the door assembly; and being distinct from and spaced fromthe at least one air-to-coolant heat exchanger, and being disposedwithin the door assembly in an airflow direction donwstream of, and atleast partially aligned to, the at least one air-to-coolant heatexchanger, wherein with the door assembly coupled to the electronicsrack at the air inlet side thereof, the at least one airflowredistributor, at least partially, redistributing within the doorassembly the airflow passing across the at least one air-to-coolant heatexchanger, and before reaching the air inlet side of the electronicsrack.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein one airflow opening of the atleast one airflow opening has a smaller transverse cross-sectional areato the direction of airflow than a transverse cross-sectional area tothe direction of airflow of the air inlet side of the electronics rack.3. The method of claim 2, wherein the door assembly comprises atrapezoidal-shaped, outer shell portion, and wherein the one airflowopening of the at least one airflow opening is disposed at an apex ofthe trapezoidal-shaped, outer shell portion.
 4. The method of claim 1,wherein the at least one airflow redistributor is configured to at leastpartially redistribute the airflow after passing across the at least oneair-to-coolant heat exchanger to facilitate providing a desired airflowpattern at the air inlet side of the electronics rack.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, wherein the at least one airflow redistributor at leastpartially, outwardly redistributes the airflow in a direction transverseto a direction of the airflow across the at least one air-to-coolantheat exchanger, after the airflow passing across the at least oneair-to-coolant heat exchanger to facilitate providing a uniform airflowdistribution across the air inlet side of the electronics rack.
 6. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the at least one airflow redistributorcomprises at least one airflow redistribution grating, the at least oneairflow redistribution grating comprising a plurality of airflowopenings which allow at least a portion of the airflow to passtherethrough.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the at least one airflowredistribution grating has a smaller transverse cross-sectional area tothe direction of airflow than a transverse cross-sectional area to thedirection of airflow of the air inlet side of the electronics rack. 8.The method of claim 6, wherein airflow openings of the plurality ofairflow openings of the at least one airflow distribution grating varyin size.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the at least one airflowredistribution grating comprises multiple regions of airflow openings,and wherein different regions of the multiple regions of airflowopenings comprise differently-sized airflow openings.
 10. The method ofclaim 8, wherein airflow openings of the at least one airflowredistribution grating increase in size in at least one direction from acenter of the at least one airflow redistribution grating, outwardstowards a periphery of the at least one airflow redistribution grating.11. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one airflowredistributor comprises at least one set of nested airflow guidingvanes, the at least one set of nested airflow guiding vanes at leastpartially redirecting the airflow passing across the at least oneair-to-coolant heat exchanger to facilitate providing a desired airflowpattern at the air inlet side of the electronics rack.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the set of nested airflow guiding vanes comprise aplurality of airflow openings, and wherein airflow openings of theplurality of airflow openings increase in size from a center of the setof nested airflow guiding vanes towards a periphery of the set of nestedairflow guiding vanes.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the doorassembly comprises: multiple airflow openings facilitating passage ofairflow through the door assembly and into the electronics rack;multiple air-to-coolant heat exchangers, each air-to-coolant heatexchanger being disposed so that airflow through a respective airflowopening of the multiple airflow openings passes across theair-to-coolant heat exchanger, the multiple air-to-coolant heatexchangers extracting heat from the airflow passing thereacross; andmultiple airflow redistributors disposed in an airflow directiondownstream of, and at least partially aligned to, the multipleair-to-coolant heat exchangers, the multiple airflow redistributorsfacilitating, at least partially, redistribution of the airflow passingacross the multiple air-to-coolant heat exchangers, before reaching theair inlet side of the electronics rack.